With only about a week to go until the first day of school and a looming threat of a state takeover, the Jefferson County Board of Education is slated to have a lot to talk about at its meetings Tuesday.

The board will begin its work sessions at 3:30 p.m., with the regular board meeting scheduled to follow at 7 p.m. at district headquarters, 3332 Newburg Road.

Here are some of the highlights expected from the meeting:

State takeover talks

As the Courier Journal reported last week, Kentucky's interim education commissioner has offered a settlement to Jefferson County Public Schools in hopes of avoiding a contentious dispute over whether the state can take over the district.

JCPS is expected to respond this week to interim Commissioner Wayne Lewis regarding his offer. The JCPS board is meeting at 3:30 p.m. in executive — or closed-door — session to discuss proposed or pending litigation. While the meeting notice does not state the exact nature of those talks, it is likely that the settlement offer will be discussed.

The Courier Journal obtained a copy of Lewis' offer, in which he proposes that the state have "enhanced oversight and responsibility" over eight key JCPS areas rather than doing a full takeover of the 101,000-student district. Those key areas include JCPS' plan for how it assigns students to schools, early childhood education, special education, transportation, restraint and seclusion and building maintenance.

The proposal also would have the state perform another audit of JCPS in the fall of 2019 to assess if any further action is needed. The district would give up its right to seek a stay of that decision, which could include a takeover or state assistance.

School police force

The JCPS board is slated to vote on a resolution that proposes that the district move away from its current school resource officer contracts with multiple law enforcement agencies and instead create an in-house school security force.

The board is slated to continue its current contracts with Louisville Metro Police, Jeffersontown and other police agencies for the 2018-2019 school year. The board also is expected to vote on contracts with those agencies at its meeting.

However, the resolution would have the district plan to end its relationship with those agencies for school resource officers after this school year in favor of the in-house force.

JCPS said the new Division of School Security would cost $8.8 million annually as well as a one-time startup cost of $2.4 million. The current structure of law enforcement contracts and the district's existing security team costs $3.5 million.

JCPS' plan would include placing a security officer in every one of the more than 40 middle and high schools. Currently, only 28 middle and high schools have a resource officer.

This resolution would only be the first step in the process for the district's plan.

Teachers union contract

The JCPS board is also slated to approve a five-year contract with the teachers union. The tentative contract offers incentives for teachers who choose to work in low-performing schools, makes significant changes to the teacher transfer process and provides a way for the superintendent and principal of a low-performing school to get rid of an ineffective teacher.

In addition, all certified employees would receive a 1 percent raise over the first two years of the contract. The remaining three years of the agreement would allow for reopened negotiations on salary.

New principals

Toward the beginning of its regular meeting, the board will recognize some of the new principals this year.

Among those to be recognized are Thomas Moss, who is taking over at Breckinridge Metropolitan High alternative school after the last principal there retired; Marcella Minogue, who took over at Norton Elementary partway through last school year; and Robert Gunn, who is the principal of the new W.E.B. DuBois Academy. Gunn has previously worked as a principal in JCPS but is the first principal for this all-male middle school program.